Wayfinding in Vancouver

The Vancouver Community Library, Washington, has won a design award for its bold, architecturally integrated library wayfinding signage.

16 June 2014

The wayfinding concepts go well beyond the usual signage solutions for libraries and public buildings. The giant lettering in the concrete throughways are hard to miss and provide immediate orientation.

Many other libraries have incorporated a 'knowledge wall' of words that indicate the value of a library to its users - but this one is on a giant, three-dimensional scale, with words such as 'search', 'question', 'gather', 'connect' helping to change mindsets about what libraries do and what libraries are for.

A report in the news source The Columbian quotes the jury's comments: 'a seamless integration of architecture and wayfinding — a symphony of materials and finishes — a playful interplay of scale and architecture. An imaginative wayfinding system for a multistoried library. This project shows what a library can be as opposed to what it has been traditionally.'